It was celebrity time at the Hartford Marriott Downtown Friday. Thanks Ct Forum!

Another of CT Forum's great panel discussions, this time "Explorers & Adventurers," was held at the Bushnell Friday night but before the serious stuff, it was party time at the Hartford Marriott Downtown where the four special guests, Diana Nyad, Cheryl Strayed, Paul Nicklen and Alison Stewart shared the center of attention.

"I just want to meet any of them, I don't care which one," said Manchester resident Maureen Smith, as she waited at the meet-and-greet reception. "But really I want to meet Diana Nyad," she added referring to the record-setting 65-year-old athlete who swam from Cuba to Florida in 2013. "At that age, to do that, she has got to be amazing."

But first the four guests, Nyad; Strayed, who wrote the book "Wild" that was made into a movie starring Reese Witherspoon; Nicklen, a photojournalist for National Geographic; and Stewart, an NPR radio and television journalist, met with members of the CT Forum's youth panel, answering questions and telling the high school students that engagement is a must if the world is to be a better place.

"At your age you hold the power of change," Nyad said to the group. "As you get older you get mired in life, but now you have the power."

"Do the things that are hard to do," encouraged Strayed urging the teenagers to be aware of environmental, climate and political issues that need to be addressed. "Make it your mission."